By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
One of the most highly-anticipated rematches in ONE Fighting Championship history is finally going down today.
Joshua Pacio, the former ONE strawweight king, will have the chance to retake his belt as he forged a rematch with Jarred Brooks, the man who stole his crown, at the Lusail Sports Arena.
The two top dogs of the division first met inside the cage last 2022, where Brooks dethroned Pacio via a close unanimous decision victory.
After two years, the arch-rivals will share the ring once again and are expected to provide an entertaining fireworks fight for the ONE FC fans.
Pacio is coming off a convincing unanimous decision win over Mansur Malachiev last October 6, 2023, right after his loss against Brooks.
During that win, Pacio already showed vast improvement and had a more stable ground game. Against Brooks, he became defenseless in the sprawl action several times and the need to establish his grappling skills was quickly raised to his corner.
Pacio vowed that everyone would see a different version of him against Brooks. More decisive, quicker, and more critical with his stand-up game.
“Yeah, definitely. It’s going to be a new me. And, you know, that’s like one year, almost one year I think since my move to Lions Nation MMA and there’s a lot of changes, a lot of learnings happenings. And today, I’m more confident,” said Pacio.
On the other hand, Brooks is yet to return action inside the ONE ring. His last fight was still against Pacio two years ago and is now inactive in the strawweight division.
Some said that ring rust issued might hinder Brooks’ chance of defending his belt but the reigning king, said that he would make Pacio kiss the canvas and will walk away with a knockout victory.
“People are underestimating my hunger and my goals in ONE Championship. Now, I’m here to show Joshua Pacio who is the best. I want to knock him out, and I want to finish him. I’m gonna finish him this time,” said Brooks.
